Evidence of a Debacle:

I listen to Morning Edition on NPR every morning as I am getting ready for the day and like most people like it for its thoughtful, in depth coverage of the news and the way it, like many programs on NPR, mixes brevity with discussion of serious topics.

Over the course of last week, one of the features on ME was the audio diary of a young Iraqi dentist, and I thought this was one of the best features on the program in a long time. Through the week we heard our dentist's stories and got a real sense of what life must be like for an average person in Baghdad. The final installment, as he reports on his best friend's kidnapping and eventual murder and beheading is just incredibly powerful.

As I listened, I thought for a moment that this diary should be required listening for our leadership. It is awfully easy to make decisions about going to war without considering the impact of such decisions on average, local people. The circumstances that have been created by the Unites States' rather arrogant attempt at regime change in Iraq are truly incomprehensible. Unfortuantely, and this may just be the cynic in me coming out, my guess is that a listen to this audio diary would only serve to reinforce the particular politically based opinions about the situation in Iraq of the individual listener. Those who think that we cannot abandon Iraq until the political situation there is stabilized will only feel more strongly that is the case. Those who believe that stabilization should be the responsibility of the Iraqis themselves will only have that opinion reinforced.

For those interested, here is the link to the audio diary on NPR*
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14412383